Mama Mia wows audience at nearly sold-out show at PAC
By Scott Daniels
November 12, 2015
472
The Performing Arts Center at Kent State University at Tuscarawas showcased another crowd-pleasing Broadway hit Tuesday, Nov. 3 in presenting Mamma Mia! The nearly sold-out audience clapped and toe-tapped throughout the 2 -hour show, which included many hit songs by the Swedish pop group ABBA. Two former ABBA members, Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus, composed both the groups hit songs and other music for the show, which saw its London debut in 1999.
Mamma Mia! enjoyed a 14-year run on Broadway, closing in September of this year. It has grossed $2 billion worldwide and reached audiences numbering more than 60 million. It is, by any definition, a smash hit.
The cast for the touring performance at the PAC lived up to every possible audience expectation.
The show opens on an idyllic Greek island as 20-year old Sophie Sheridan (Kyra Belle Johnson) is planning her wedding to Sky (Stephen Eckelmann). Sophie has never known the identity of her father but sneaks a peek at her mothers diary to learn that her mom had relationships with three men 21 one years prior. Each seems a likely candidate for her paternity, and wanting her father to walk her down the aisle she invites all three to the wedding without telling her mother, Donna (Erin Fish).
Its the day before the wedding, and among the guests are Donnas best friends Tanya (Laura Michele Hughes) and Rosie (Sarah Smith). Tanya has had multiple husbands, Rosie none. The three women once comprised a girl group called Donna and the Dynamos.
Enter the three possible fathers: Sam, an American (Chad Fornwalt), the British Harry (Andrew Tebo) and Bill, also American. Sophie believed she would instinctively know which was her father, but that doesnt happen. She makes them swear not to spill the beans to her mom about having been invited, and Donna is shocked to see them show up at such a time, bringing her an unexpected emotional punch at an already charged event.
With Sophie trying to sort out which man is her dad, Donna trying to figure out why the three men have shown up out of nowhere, and Tanya and Rosie being alternately supportive and looking for men themselves, there is always plenty going on to keep the audience entertained.
Among the ABBA hits adapted to the show are Dancing Queen, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Lay All Your Love On Me, S.O.S., Super Trouper, Take a Chance on Me, The Winner Takes it All and of course the title song, Mamma Mia. All of them were rendered in perfect ABBA-style harmony, and each brought long applause.
The shows lighting, in rich blues and crisp, hot white brilliantly evoked the feel of a Greek island. The set was deceptively simple; two large rotating pieces represented courtyard exteriors, bedrooms, a dockside, a church or anything called for by giving them half or quarter turns. All quick set changes were accomplished mainly by cast members without a single blackout. The large ensemble cast maintained brisk energy and delivered wonderfully tight dance numbers and full sounding vocals to match the excellent live pit orchestra. Costumes were all perfectly chosen for the characters.
The cast donned 70s style sparkling costumes to reprise Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia after bows to a cheering audience.
Mamma Mia! was a polished, well-executed show full of grand talent.
The PACs remaining season can be found at www.kent.edu.tusc.pac.
